"If you'll gather 'round me, children, a story I will tell." So began many a Woody Guthrie ballad, invoking the huddle around the campfire, the community of the road, the generation that rode the rails during the Depression. Guthrie's songs gave a voice to that uprooted generation and to the struggle

Gritty, Pioneering, Political, Spiritual

Whether the pond she's skating across is folk, pop-rock, or jazz, Joni Mitchell attacks song with an unfailing ear for off-kilter melody and poetically sparked lyrics. Her thirty-plus years as a musician have seen her experiment with many styles and join forces with players from Neil Young to Charles

Dreamy, Elegant, Feminine, Intimate, Religious, Sincere, Women's literature

Most can say without hesitation that Bob Dylan wore the pop music crown during the 1960s, and his influence on American music has been surpassed by few. Dylan reinvented the Folk genre by personalizing Folk songs, reconnecting rock and country, and contributing a vocal sound that influenced artists o

Death, Political, Quirky, Rebel, Religious, Rough, Sincere